Thea vs. Manual Tools

The Manual Timeline Landscape

Before Thea, legal professionals created timelines using a variety of manual tools. Let’s compare how Thea stacks up against each approach.

Thea vs. Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint Approach

Pros:

• Full design control
• Familiar tool
• Offline access
• One-time license cost

Cons:

• 100% manual data entry
• Time-consuming formatting (2-4 hours per timeline)
• Difficult to update when facts change
• Inconsistent formatting across slides
• No automatic date calculations
• Requires design skills for professional results
• Version control via file naming
• Easy to accidentally share wrong version

Thea Approach

Advantages:

• Automatic event extraction from documents
• Professional formatting in minutes
• Easy updates: upload new docs and regenerate
• Consistent formatting automatically
• Accurate timeline scaling and date positioning
• Professional quality without design skills
• Built-in version history
• Export to PDF or Word for presentations and reports

Result: Thea saves 2-4 hours per timeline and produces more consistent results.

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Thea vs. Microsoft Excel

Excel Approach

Pros:

• Good for tabular data
• Easy sorting and filtering
• Formula calculations
• Familiar to most users

Cons:

• Not designed for visual timelines
• Manual data entry required
• Limited visualization capabilities
• Poor presentation quality
• Difficult to show temporal relationships
• No timeline-specific features
• Tedious to create event descriptions
• Chart formatting is time-consuming

Thea Approach

Advantages:

• Purpose-built for timeline visualization
• Automatic data extraction
• Professional timeline layouts (not just charts)
• Multiple view modes optimized for different analyses
• Timeline-specific features (categories, markers, ranges)
• Rich event descriptions with source linking
• Export to multiple formats for different audiences

Result: Excel is great for data, but Thea is purpose-built for timeline visualization.

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Thea vs. Specialized Timeline Software

Traditional Timeline Tools (TimeMap, CaseFleet, Clio, etc.)

Pros:

• Built for legal timelines
• Timeline-specific features
• Professional output

Cons:

• Still require manual data entry
• Steep learning curves
• Expensive licenses (often $500-2,000+ per year)
• Limited AI capabilities
• Rigid categorization systems
• Complex interfaces designed for legacy workflows
• Often require training to use effectively
• Limited to timeline features only

Thea Approach

Advantages:

• AI-powered extraction - No manual data entry needed
• Intuitive interface - Start creating timelines immediately
• Modern pricing - Affordable subscription
• Continuous innovation - Regular AI improvements
• Flexible categorization - Adapt to your case needs
• Conversational refinement - Natural language updates
• Document management - Integrated document processing
• Multiple creation paths - Blank, guided, or AI-suggested

Result: Thea combines the professionalism of specialized tools with AI-powered automation.

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Thea vs. Generic AI Tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)

Generic AI Approach

Pros:

• Powerful AI capabilities
• Can extract events from text
• Conversational interface

Cons:

• Privacy concerns - May train on your inputs
• No persistence - Timelines lost when chat ends
• No visualization - Text output only
• No legal-specific features - Generic tool
• Manual reformatting - Must copy/paste into other tools
• No document management - Upload files repeatedly
• No version control - Can’t track changes
• Inconsistent output - Results vary by prompt

Thea Approach

Advantages:

• Privacy-first - Never trains on your documents, EU-hosted
• Persistent timelines - Saved in your account
• Professional visualizations - Multiple view modes
• Legal-specific features - Built for legal professionals
• Ready to use - Export to PDF and Word
• Integrated document management - Upload once, use everywhere
• Version history - Track all changes
• Consistent output - Reliable, professional results

Result: Thea provides AI power with legal-specific features and privacy protections.

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Thea vs. Research Assistants/Paralegals

Manual Approach

Having a research assistant or paralegal create timelines manually:

Pros:

• Human judgment and analysis
• Can handle complex nuance
• Fits existing workflows

Cons:

• Expensive (6-10 hours at $100-400/hour)
• Turnaround time (often days)
• Quality varies by person
• Availability constraints
• Training requirements for new staff
• Repetitive, low-value work for trained professionals

Thea Approach

Better Together: Thea doesn’t replace legal professionals—it empowers them:

• Initial extraction - Thea handles the tedious data entry (2-3 minutes)
• Human review - Paralegal/attorney reviews and refines (10-15 minutes)
• Quality output - Professional timeline in fraction of the time

Result:

• Paralegal spends 15 minutes instead of 6-8 hours
• Cost drops from $600-3,200 to $50-100
• Paralegal focuses on substantive legal work, not data entry
• Same-day turnaround instead of multi-day

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Feature Comparison Matrix

Feature	PowerPoint	Excel	Timeline Software	Generic AI	Thea
Automatic extraction	❌	❌	❌	⚠️ Text only	✅
Professional visualizations	⚠️ Manual	❌	✅	❌	✅
Legal-specific features	❌	❌	✅	❌	✅
Privacy/confidentiality	⚠️ Local only	⚠️ Local only	⚠️ Varies	❌	✅
Ease of use	⚠️ Skill-dependent	⚠️ Skill-dependent	⚠️ Training needed	✅	✅
Time to create	2-4 hours	3-5 hours	1-3 hours	30-60 min	10-20 min
Easy updates	❌	⚠️	⚠️	❌	✅
Version control	❌	❌	⚠️	❌	✅
Export options	PPTX only	XLSX only	⚠️ Limited	❌	PDF/Word
Document management	❌	❌	⚠️	❌	✅
AI-powered suggestions	❌	❌	❌	⚠️	✅
Cost	$$ one-time	$$ one-time	$$$ annual	$ monthly	$$ monthly

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The Hybrid Approach

Many Thea users use a hybrid workflow:

Best of Both Worlds

1. Thea for initial creation

   • Upload documents
   • AI extracts events automatically
   • Generate professional timeline (10-20 minutes)

2. Export to your preferred format

   • Export to PDF for court filings
   • Export to Word for editable reports

3. Thea for updates

   • When new documents arrive
   • When facts change
   • When you need different views

Result: Speed and automation where it matters, flexibility where you need it.

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Migration from Existing Tools

Switching to Thea

If you currently use other tools, Thea makes migration easy:

From PowerPoint/Excel:

• Upload your case documents to Thea
• Let AI extract events automatically
• Review and refine (faster than starting from scratch)
• Export to PDF or Word for use in your workflow

From Specialized Timeline Software:

• Export timeline data from existing tool (if possible)
• Or simply upload the original documents to Thea
• AI extracts events with better automation
• Maintain your existing workflows for final delivery

From Manual Processes:

• Start with your next new case
• Experience the time savings immediately
• Gradually adopt for existing cases as needed

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When to Use Each Tool

Use PowerPoint When:

• You need pixel-perfect custom design
• Timeline is very simple (5-10 events)
• You have specific branding requirements beyond standard exports

Use Excel When:

• You need detailed data analysis
• Working with financial calculations
• Timeline is secondary to data
• Or: Use Thea for visualization, Excel for data

Use Specialized Timeline Software When:

• Your firm has existing licenses and training
• Integration with other case management tools is critical
• Or: Use Thea for faster creation, then import if needed

Use Generic AI When:

• Privacy is not a concern
• You don’t need visualizations
• Quick text summaries are sufficient
• Or: Don’t—use Thea for legal work

Use Thea When:

• Creating timelines from case documents ✅
• Time is limited and quality matters ✅
• Privacy and confidentiality are essential ✅
• Updates and revisions are expected ✅
• You want AI-powered automation ✅

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Cost Comparison

Total Cost of Ownership (1 year, 50 timelines)

PowerPoint/Excel:

• Software: $150 (Microsoft 365)
• Labor: 150 hours @ $200/hour = $30,000
• Total: $30,150

Specialized Timeline Software:

• Software: $1,200 license
• Labor: 75 hours @ $200/hour = $15,000
• Training: $500
• Total: $16,700

Generic AI:

• Software: $240 (ChatGPT Plus)
• Labor: 42 hours @ $200/hour = $8,400
• Additional tools for visualization: $500
• Privacy risk: Priceless ⚠️
• Total: $9,140 + compliance risk

Thea:

• Software: [Beta pricing TBD]
• Labor: 12.5 hours @ $200/hour = $2,500
• Training: Minimal (intuitive interface)
• Privacy: Built-in ✅
• Projected Total: ~$3,000-4,000

Savings with Thea: $12,700-27,150 per year (50 timelines)

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The Bottom Line

Thea is not just another timeline tool—it’s a fundamentally different approach:

✅ AI-powered automation instead of manual data entry ✅ Legal-specific design instead of generic tools ✅ Privacy-first architecture instead of consumer AI ✅ Professional quality in minutes instead of hours ✅ Continuous innovation instead of stagnant software

Try Thea Today

See the difference for yourself:

Get started with Thea →

Learn More

• Time Savings & ROI
• For Legal Professionals
• Privacy-First Architecture